Reflections

With Reflections we begin a new series on The South Asian Idea in which contributors share their thoughts on their own evolution. How did they become what they are and what were the ideas or books or people or places or incidents that moved them, surprised them, gave shape to their lives, or sent them on completely unexpected trajectories?

On The South Asian Idea we believe that ideas matter. Naturally. But disembodied ideas can become too dry and cerebral. We also need to know where ideas come from, how they find their way into the mind, and how they get to capture the imagination.

And how do we try and communicate our ideas to others? Or do we? And should we? And how do we deal with situations where ideas clash? There are many dimensions that suggest themselves for exploration.

These are intended to be open-ended stories that share human experiences. We don’t quite know where they would lead but we are looking forward to the experiment. If you have a story to share send it to us at thesouthasianidea@gmail.com.

2 Responses to “Reflections”

(i) the life example of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam – I’m yet to see an equally shining example of simplicity, sincerity, dedication, honesty and truthfulness.

(ii) Jared Diamond’s books – the Third Chimpanzee and ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ – these have broken my anthropomorphic world view and made me see myself as a tiny part of this universe that will go on even after mankind has been wiped out. Mankind is no more special than the earthworm as far as the universe is concerned.